


A Lassoed Lassie

by TheTruthHertz



Series: Pearlnet Week 2018 [2]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Drinking, F/F, GREAT OUTDOORS, Pearlnet week 2018, Poker, Sexual innuendos, confrontation?, disguises, dressing like a man, horse chase, hot dry heat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-18
Updated: 2018-07-18
Packaged: 2019-06-12 08:30:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,482
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15335913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheTruthHertz/pseuds/TheTruthHertz
Summary: Garnet, a cowboy in the wild west, sees something that catches her eye and can't help by try and find out if what she saw was actually real.





	A Lassoed Lassie

**Author's Note:**

> I'm so sorry this is late, my internet has been a butt today! Anyways, I hope you all enjoy this slightly shippy fic.

            Hot air filled the room and rustled about as the occasional gust of wind slipped past the double-hinged doors.  Shirts and vests darkened with sweat stains adorned practically every body in the saloon.  Low chatter rumbled from a number of patrons scattered around in small groups, a clink came from the bartender as they cleaned another shot glass and set it down, a solitary, stifled cough erupted from the table where a number of patrons were sitting.  Sets of eyes partially shielded by leather hats darted to the guilty party for a fraction of a second before their attention was drawn back to the cards held in front of each player.  Mismatched eyes watched as the bearded cowboy off to her left pushed a silver dime into the growing pile in the middle.  The next one in line, a bulky fellow, sighed.

            “Fold.”

            His cards were tossed facedown onto the worn wooden table, and then he got up and headed towards the bar.

            “Raise,” the next one stated, a wiry fellow Garnet had never seen before, and slid two dimes into the middle.

            “Call.” The participant just off to Garnet’s left tossed in the owed amount.

            She did the same.

            Several moments of tense silence passed, each face an expressionless mask.  Cards were discarded and the bearded man dealt out the respective replacements.  Sweat continued to trickle down Garnet’s back and the sides of her neck.

            “Raise,” the bearded cowboy put in a nickel to start the round.

            “Raise.”  A narrow, gloved hand pushed three nickels into the pile.

            “Call.”  Another three nickels joined the pot.

            Garnet eyed the discarded piles and each of the remaining player’s faces.  “Call.” She slid in three nickels.

            “Fold,” the bearded cowboy set his cards facedown.

            The remaining three contestants displayed their cards.  A flush was laid out by the wiry cowboy and a three of a kind was set down by the fellow to Garnet’s right.  The curly haired woman couldn’t help the small grin curling up in the corner of her mouth as she presented her full house.

            “Nice playing with you all,” she casually drawled as she tipped her hat and pulled the small pile of silver coins towards her.

            “Another round!” the bearded cowboy demanded.

            “Nah, I’m calling it a day,” she smirked as her winnings were dropped into her wallet strapped to her belt and secured.

            “Likewise,” the wiry person stated as he stood up, light blue eyes flickering towards Garnet for a split second.

            With one last tip of her hat, the curly haired cowboy turned on her heel and headed towards the doors, her boots thudding heavily against the wooden planks that constructed the floor.  Stepping out into the midday sunshine made her grimace as much as it had when she had decided to spend her lunch in the saloon instead of baking in it.  Mismatched eyes narrowed as she heard the lighter footsteps follow her outside.  In the peripherals of her brown eye, she noticed that the slim cowboy from the table had just exited the saloon a scant few steps behind her.  Garnet casually rested her hands on her belt, near her guns, and made her way to the shaded stable where she had tethered her horse.  Footsteps continued to follow her.

            _He probably just tethered his horse here just like me.  No need to worry._

_I’m still gonna keep an eye on him._

Garnet approached her loyal steed Thunder, and affectionately patted and rubbed the horse’s brown coat.  Her brown eye continued to watch the thin cowboy as he walked over to a tan mustang.  A good breed of horse, though Garnet had to say she preferred her thoroughbred.  As the other guided his horse towards the main road, the two made eye contact.  Mismatched eyes widened.  Something had felt off about the cowboy ever since she had seen them walk into the saloon, but her attention had been too focused on the poker games to notice.  The structure of the stranger’s face and features had soft, smooth, somewhat feminine lines.  However, their attire made it hard to see any suspicious curves in their lean, strong body. Garnet continued to watch how the thin stranger moved, her mouth falling open slightly.  She’d be dammed if this stranger really was a man because that would be the first time she’d ever thought one was attractive.  With surprising grace, the thin cowboy mounted their horse and rode off.

            _I’ll be dammed…_

The curly haired woman shook her head to snap herself out of the trance she had fallen into.  She quickly untethered her horse and hopped on, she didn’t want to lose sight of the thin cowboy.  The need to talk to this stranger and figure out this puzzle filled Garnet with a sense of emergency.  Heels quickly nudged Thunder’s side to urge them faster.  Garnet swiveled her head this way and that once she trotted onto the main road.  The mysterious stranger was spotted heading towards the edge of the town.

            “Hya!”

            Hooves struck the hard dirt as they pursued.  If this person really was another woman intentionally going around wearing ambiguous attire just like her, then Garnet didn’t want to pass up getting to know her. The curly haired woman was well aware of how her appearance could easily be mistaken.  And in all honestly, she put on a more masculine show on purpose.  Being perceived as male in these parts had a lot of advantages.  For a moment it looked like the distance between the two riders was decreasing, but as soon as the other rider hit the edge of the small mining town, they took off.  Garnet pressed her round lips into a line.

            _I’m not letting you out of my sight._

A first it seemed that the stranger was just riding out towards the direction of the ranches; then suddenly they darted to the side and headed into the rock formations bordering one side of the town.  Garnet followed, pushing her horse faster.

            Horseshoes rapidly clicked against the red rock as the two cowboys zigzagged through the narrow stone pathways carved by nature.  The curly haired cowboy was struggling to keep her target in sight.

            _I just want to talk to you!_

            A curse slipped past her lips as the mustang once again made another hairpin turn and temporarily disappeared from view.  Thunder followed the quick change in direction with little trouble.  Just as she was turning the corner, Garnet spotted a furious set of blue eyes and a loop of rope sailing over her head.  Arms were instantly trapped against her sides as the lasso tightened.

            _Oh shit._

As Garnet’s horse continued to charge forward and the mustang backed up, it took only a moment for the slack in the rope to disappear.  One instant she was on her horse, the next she was hitting the dust covered stone as her horse galloped on without her.

            “Hya!” a higher pitched voice cried out.

            Garnet gritted her teeth as she was dragged behind the stranger’s horse, rocks and prickly brush cutting and scraping her dark skin through her shirt and parts of her pants that weren’t protected by her leather vest and chaps.  Legs shifted so they were braced out in front of her in attempts to help her get to her feet or at least control where she was going.

            “Hold up!  I just wanted to talk to you!” she tried shouting out as she reached down for her knife.

            _You idiot, that’s just the thing someone with ill intentions would say._

A sigh of relief was let out as she unsheathed the weapon and lifted it up to cut the rope.  All of the sudden the mustang whipped to the side and stopped.  Garnet was flung against a rock wall.  A grunt escaped the curly haired woman from the impact.

            _I’m gonna feel that tomorrow._

            “Don’t you dare cut my rope.”

            Mismatched eyes snapped up at the sound of the hammer of a gun being pulled back.  The stranger sat there on their stopped horse with their gun pointed right at Garnet.

            “Then don’t lasso me off my fucking horse!” Garnet threw her hands to the side as much as she could.

            “You were following me!  What was I supposed to do, wait for you to catch me and see what you were going to do to me then?”

            “I just wanted to talk to you, no tricks, I swear.”

            “How am I to believe that?”

            There was no denying now, Garnet could tell that this cowboy was another woman.  Her voice completely gave her away.

            _That probably is why she’s super suspicious of some stranger following her.  Especially since she probably thinks I’m a man._

            “Just let me get out of this rope here and I’ll explain why I was following you.”

            “I think you can explain just fine as you are,” the woman’s cold tone stated as she hopped off her horse, took a couple steps closer, and leveled her gun.

            The curly haired cowboy breathed out and took a gamble.

            “I’m not going to hurt you Miss, that’s the last thing I want to do.”

            “‘Miss’?!”

            Enraged, the thin woman rushed forward and shoved the gun right under Garnet’s chin.  Mismatched eyes closed for a moment as she let out a slow breath.  Garnet did not feel like getting shot today.

            “You better have a damn good reason for calling me that.” The tone of voice was completely different, intentionally deepened and much like how she had sounded in the saloon.

            “It’s a pretty good disguise you got on, most people are probably one hundred percent fooled by it, but as they say, it takes one to know one.”

            Light blue eyes stared down at her, full of shock and disbelief.  Piece by piece Garnet could see the other woman putting the clues together as she scrutinized Garnet.  “How do I know you’re not lying?”

            “Give me a little room and I can prove it.”

            “Fine, take off your shirt,” she demanded as she took a couple steps back.  “One false move and I’ll shoot you.”

            Garnet loosened the lasso enough so she could move under it and unbutton her vest and shirt.  A low hiss escaped her lips as the abrasions covering her arms and part of her lower back were disturbed.

            _That’s going to be fun to clean out._

Button by button the plaid shirt was separated until it was completely open, displaying her wrapped chest and revealing the curve in her torso.

            “Oh!” the pale woman’s cheeks turned bright red.  Light blue eyes traced her exposed skin slowly, causing the woman’s face to flush even more.

            “Chasing after you wasn’t the best idea,” Garnet shrugged.  “However, I had to find out if you were like me or not.”

            “I see…how’d you figure it out?” the woman quickly snapped back into interrogation mode.

            “Facial features, how you move, your voice when you’re not disguising it.”

            The click clack of hooves drew their attention to the side.  Thunder trotted over to Garnet, loyally standing by her side.

            “Good horse,” the dark woman smiled.  “Are you ok with letting me go now?”

            Light blue eyes narrowed as the question was mulled over.  With a snap of her wrist, the lasso was flung over Garnet’s head, releasing her.

            “Now that you have satisfied your curiosity, you can leave me alone.  And if you tell anyone about my secret, then I’ll come after you and do much worse than just tie you up.”

            Garnet chuckled as she stood up, brushing some of the dirt and twigs off her.  “I’ll keep your secret as long as you keep mine.”

            “Deal.”

            The woman turned and headed towards her horse.

            “I actually wanted to talk to you, get to know you a little bit if you don’t mind?”

            The request was met with an annoyed sigh.

            “But if you don’t, then I understand.  I just don’t meet too many women like you and I would kick myself for passing up the chance.”

            The pale woman paused and spared a glance back at Garnet.

            “Allow me to formally introduce myself.  My name is Garnet,” she said as the took off her hat and gave the thin woman a short bow.

            “Pearl,” she stated in return.

            “Nice to meet you Pearl.”

            “There is a watering hole a mile or so away, you can accompany me to there if you wish.”

            “It would be my pleasure.”

            The two mounted their respective horses and headed off at a slow trot.  For several minutes the only sounds were the thumps of the hooves hitting the dirt and stone.

            “I haven’t see you around here before, new in town or just passing through?” Garnet decided to start with as she buttoned up her shirt.

            “Looking for work.”

            “Where at?”

            “The Diamond Ranch.”

            The curly haired cowboy hissed and shook her head.

            “What?” Pearl turned to face her, her eyebrows furrowed.

            “Not worth it, they are a pain to work for, speaking from experience.”

            “In what way?”

            “Room and board and the wages were decent.  They have tons of cattle to take care of and a bunch of people who are always trying to steal parts of their herd.  But the owners are what did it for me, there’s just something really off about them.  Several of the ranch hands who were working with me at the time were given a secret job to do, they never came back.  And then the owners pretended they hadn’t even existed.”  Garnet shook her head.  “I wasn’t going to stick around to either find out what happened or have the same happen to me.  You have a much better chance at making a decent living helping with cattle drives or working with any other rancher in the area.”

            “I see…well there goes my plan A.”

            “I just finished a cattle drive a day ago, in a week or so we will be on the move again, I could put in a good word for you with the guy in charge, I know you’re good with a rope.”

            Laughter tumbled past thin lips for a second and Garnet thanked the heavens above for finally being able to get this cautious woman to loosen up.

            “I’m also really good with my hands,” Pearl tossed back, a confident smile plastered on her face.

            “Oh really?” Garnet leaned forward on her saddle and raised an eyebrow.  “I’d love to see those skills in action.”

            Red eyebrows shot up, before more laughter shook the thin woman’s frame.  “We shall see about that.”

            Comfortable silence drifted between them.  Up ahead the watering hole had appeared.

            “Our horses could probably use a good rest after that chase.  While we’re there maybe you can tell me a little bit more about yourself?” Pearl suggested.

            “I’d love to,” Garnet grinned.

**Author's Note:**

> I had fun with this one, might add more to it later, who knows?


End file.
